La reunión de hoy fue extremadamente corta. Comenzó a las 6:30 y a eso de las 8:30 ya se había terminado. ¡Tan solo 2 horas! Al igual que lo hice la semana pasada, dicha reunión fue seguida a través de numerales: [NOTA: Debo admitir que esta fue una reunión mucho más difícil de cubrir, ya que contrario a las reuniones regulares, el Concejo se enfoco en cada aspecto de manera más detallada).
Asistencia: 3 Concejales estuvieron ausentes (Goow, Rodríguez y Ames). Un total de 15 ciudadanos asistieron a la reunión del concejo y solo 4 de ellos hablaron durante la sección pública.
1 – Hay una parte de la reunión en la cual los concejales se enfocan en el “Pago de Facturas”. Es aquí donde ellos revisan las cuentas de cobro que han sido facturadas durante el mes. Si no estoy mal, el director del comité de Finanzas (el concejal Ken Morris) revisó las cifras. Cabe notar que no existe documento alguno que le permita al público acceder a dichas cantidades; razón por la cual no puedo proveerles dicha información en este momento.
2- El Consejo Municipal estuvo discutiendo un incremento salarial el cual dependería de la longevidad de aquellos empleados públicos que son veteranos de Guerra. Surgieron algunas preguntas, entre las que sobresalió aquella de que si a empleado público que es veterano de guerra se le daría el mismo incremento que a un trabajador del Departamento de Servicios Públicos que gane 22,000 al año. Dicha discusión se llevó nuevamente al comité correspondiente para ser tratada más a fondo (NOTA: Por lo menos eso fue lo que entendí de la conversación).
3) Alguien durante la porción publica de la reunión indagó acerca de la posibilidad de traer nuevamente un acopio de taxis a la ciudad, más específicamente en la estación de Bus Broadway. Dicho ciudadano se quejaba ya que él, como conductor de taxi certificado que es, está perdiendo dinero debido a la gran cantidad de taxistas que trabajan en la ciudad sin permiso de operación alguno. El Concejo prometió estudiar la propuesta.
4) Se le recordó a la comunidad de que el parqueo de vehículos comerciales en áreas residenciales está totalmente prohibido, incluyendo cualquier automotor que posea una licencia o aviso/logo comercial (esto ocurre mucho aquí en Paterson).
5) Se trajo a colación una nueva ordenanza con respecto a los nuevos negocios, la cual me pareció sumamente interesante:
“Resolución que autoriza la aceptación de fondos o servicios para permitirle a los oficiales electos de nuestra ciudad desplazarse a la ciudad de Lowell, Massachusetts, y así aprender más acerca de programas de re-desarrollo de los cuales Paterson se podría beneficiar”
Según tengo entendido, esto no debe tomarse como un “negocio oficial”, ya que la ciudad no está pagando por dicho viaje, sino que alguien se ofreció a dar el dinero para que algunos concejales se reúnan con los concejales de Lowell. Pero no entraron en mucho detalle con respecto a quien es la persona que patrocinaría este viaje y cuál sería la agenda y/o itinerario del mismo. La secretaria general de la ciudad también se unirá a dicho viaje.
6) En respuesta a la balacera que ocurrió durante la reciente Noche de Vigilia de los bloques (o cuadras), el Concejal McCoy pidió que la administración de la ciudad desarrollase un sistema de notificación de emergencias que mantuvira actualizado al Concejo a medida que dichas emergencias ocurrieran. Su argumeto fue que muchos de ellos no se enteraron de dicha tragedia hasta pasado el medio día del miércoles. No se adentraron en mayores detalles al respecto.
7) En el próximo Seminario-Reunión, el Concejo debatirá acerca de la posibilidad de instaurar permisos de parqueo en la ciudad (lo que en el idioma anglosajón se conoce como “Parking Decal”).
Monday, August 9, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
City Council Workshop Meeting 8/4/10-Where the discussion is really heard
Tonight was a surprisingly short meeting. It started at 6:30pm and ended at 8:30pm...2 HOURS!!! As I did last week, I will just post issue by issue that I took note of: [NOTE: This is a harder meeting to cover as they have much more discussion than during the regular meeting about a particular issue)
Roll Call: 3 Councilmembers were absent (Goow, Rodriguez and Ames), 15 total citizens present at the meetings with only 4 speaking at the Public Portion.
1) There is a section of the meeting where they focus on "Payment of the Bills". This is where they go over what bills are being paid in the month and I believe the chair of the Finance Committee (Councilman Ken Morris) goes over the numbers. However, no document is available for the public to view as these numbers are thrown around so I could not provide these numbers for you at this time.
2)The council was discussing a salary bump depending on longevity for public employees who are military veterans. There were some questions about this such as whether high paying military veterans (Deputy Chief officers, etc.) will get the same raises as a DPW worker who makes $22,000. The discussion was brought back to Committee for further investigation. (NOTE: at least thats what I understood of the conversation)
3)Someone during the Public Portion Meeting ask about the possibility of bringing a taxi stand back to the City, in particular at the Broadway Bus Station. He was complaining that as a taxi driver who has a Certificate of Operation is losing business to those who dont have a valid CO. The council expressed that they will look into the matter.
4)A reminder was made that Commercial Vehicles parking in residential area is illegal, that includes any vehicle that has a commercial license or commercial signage (This happens a lot in paterson).
5)There was an ordinance in New Business that was interesting:
"Resolution authorizing acceptance of funds or services to enable city officials to travel to Lowell, Massachusetts to explore redevelopment programs suitable for the City of Paterson."
I understand that this is not to be considered official business and the City is not paying for this trip but someone offered to pay for some Council members to meet their counterparts in Massachusetts but they did not go into detail who is giving them money and what is the itinerary of the trip. The City Clerk is also attending.
6)In response to the shooting during National Night Out Block Parties, Councilman McCoy requested that the administration develop an emergency notification system that would update the council on emergencies as they arrive as some individuals were not aware until mid day today that the shootings occurred. No other discussion of the matter was had.
7)Next workshop meeting, The council will discuss the possibility of enforcing parking decals in the city.
Roll Call: 3 Councilmembers were absent (Goow, Rodriguez and Ames), 15 total citizens present at the meetings with only 4 speaking at the Public Portion.
1) There is a section of the meeting where they focus on "Payment of the Bills". This is where they go over what bills are being paid in the month and I believe the chair of the Finance Committee (Councilman Ken Morris) goes over the numbers. However, no document is available for the public to view as these numbers are thrown around so I could not provide these numbers for you at this time.
2)The council was discussing a salary bump depending on longevity for public employees who are military veterans. There were some questions about this such as whether high paying military veterans (Deputy Chief officers, etc.) will get the same raises as a DPW worker who makes $22,000. The discussion was brought back to Committee for further investigation. (NOTE: at least thats what I understood of the conversation)
3)Someone during the Public Portion Meeting ask about the possibility of bringing a taxi stand back to the City, in particular at the Broadway Bus Station. He was complaining that as a taxi driver who has a Certificate of Operation is losing business to those who dont have a valid CO. The council expressed that they will look into the matter.
4)A reminder was made that Commercial Vehicles parking in residential area is illegal, that includes any vehicle that has a commercial license or commercial signage (This happens a lot in paterson).
5)There was an ordinance in New Business that was interesting:
"Resolution authorizing acceptance of funds or services to enable city officials to travel to Lowell, Massachusetts to explore redevelopment programs suitable for the City of Paterson."
I understand that this is not to be considered official business and the City is not paying for this trip but someone offered to pay for some Council members to meet their counterparts in Massachusetts but they did not go into detail who is giving them money and what is the itinerary of the trip. The City Clerk is also attending.
6)In response to the shooting during National Night Out Block Parties, Councilman McCoy requested that the administration develop an emergency notification system that would update the council on emergencies as they arrive as some individuals were not aware until mid day today that the shootings occurred. No other discussion of the matter was had.
7)Next workshop meeting, The council will discuss the possibility of enforcing parking decals in the city.
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